In state championship showdown, Eagle flies high as Lions roar

West Linn players hoist the championship trophy and celebrate their 44-30 victory over Three Rivers rival Lake Oswego in Saturday’s 6A state title game at Hillsboro Stadium

Updated 12/3/2024 9:00 AM

Friday was a great day in the life of Jon Eagle. His West Linn High football team won the Oregon 6A championship, the fourth of his long, illustrious coaching career.

But Saturday was pretty darn good, too. There was a trip to Spokane with his wife, Debbie, to see son Zach Eagle and his four month-old son — the Eagles’ first grandchild.

The family time was fun. So was the realization that a state title is in the books.

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am today,” Eagle told me Saturday night. “No schedule. No pressure. To finish the season with a win — not many people can say that. And the kids played so well. It’s a really good feeling.”

West Linn beat Three Rivers League rival Lake Oswego 44-30 Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium, avenging a 21-17 loss to the Lakers in an October 18 regular-season matchup. The No. 2-seed Lions jumped on the top-seeded Lakers early, taking a 24-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter. Lake Oswego fought back, but the Lions boat-raced them to their second state title in three years.

A quick aside: The Oregonian’s Bill Oram takes issue with the OSAA calling the 6A championship game the “Open championship,” and the consolation title game (formerly called the “Columbia Cup”) for teams seeded 13 to 28 the “State championship.”

That unfortunate bit of semantics came about from a decision by the OSAA’s 16-person football ad hoc committee, comprised primarily of athletic directors (and only one 6A coach). The ad hoc committee meets Thursday, and my guess is they will make a change so that the “state championship” signifies the state’s true champion, not the consolation bracket winner.

The bigger issue to me is the switch three years ago from a 32-team bracket to the one that has the top 12-seeded teams in 6A in one tournament and Nos. 13 through 28 in the other. The committee’s reasoning: When there are 32 teams playing in the first round, there are a ton of blowouts. History shows that in most years, there are about eight teams capable of winning the state crown. The idea was to give the lesser teams a chance to compete for something in which they have a chance to win.

But in most cases, the lesser teams haven’t done enough to show they deserve to qualify for the postseason. What I would like to see instituted: A 24-team bracket, with eight league champions getting a first-round bye. That would eliminate most of the blowouts and still give enough capable teams a chance to compete in the playoffs.

While we are at it, does the state really need six classifications? More heavily populated Washington has four, which seems like plenty in Oregon, too. You could still divide 1A into 11-, eight- and six-man divisions. The powers-that-be should change back to the four-classification format that was in place in the state from 1990 to 2005.

Back to West Linn-Lake Oswego: The result didn’t shock Lakers coach Steve Coury.

“A few weeks back, we woke them up,” said a gracious Coury, who was denied his third state championship in eight title game appearances. “As the season went along, you could see that they got better at running the ball. They have a big, physical group up front. They are good. They were good back when we beat them. They did what they’re good at doing today.

“I have said all along, that is the best team in the state. I said that before the year, and during the year, and now it is proven.”

Saturday began on a tenuous note for West Linn. Quarterback Baird Gilroy awoke with a 103-degree temperature, only hours before the 12:30 p.m. kickoff.

“That’s the first person I talked to when I showed up (for the bus ride to Hillsboro Stadium) in the morning,” Eagle said. “That’s the last thing I wanted to hear. But I knew from past experience that something on that day was going to go wonky, and because of it we were going to win. It happened again.”

It wound up being a good day for Gilroy. On the first play from scrimmage, the 6-5, 210-pound senior rambled for a 37-yard run into Lake Oswego territory.

“After that, I looked at the guys on our sidelines and said, ‘OK, it’s on,’ ” Eagle says. “The game of football relies so much on the quarterback position. We knew that in order for us to win, Baird had to play well, and he certainly did.”

Gilroy completed 12 of 22 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns, running his TD-pass total for the 13-game season to 36.

“I thought I had a pretty good game,” Gilroy told me. “I’m proud of myself. The morning was kind of rough, but this makes up for it.”

All three touchdown catches were made by senior Danny Wideman, who finished the season with 79 receptions for 1,190 yards and 18 scores. Wideman looks like D-I receiver material but is headed to Oregon to play baseball next year.

Then there was Viggo Anderson, who must have been named for the actor Viggo Mortensen, the only other Viggo I’ve ever heard of.    Anderson is a pint-sized running back who played the biggest role in Saturday’s game, carrying the ball 28 times for 204 yards and two TDs. He finished his junior season with 1,508 yards and 15 scores rushing.

“Viggo is 5-6 and a buck-46 if you put a bunch of rocks in his pockets,” Eagle said. “He is a completely different style than I have had. The one thing he does, he accelerates through the hole so quickly, he makes people miss, and he is hard to see.”

West Linn won the line of scrimmage, amassing 22 first downs, rushing for 257 yards and compiling 438 yards total offense. A whopping 15 penalties for 144 yards was offset by the offensive production and a turnover-free performance.

The Lions threw a strategic curve at the Lake Oswego defense.

“Our offensive line coaches (Bruce Borgelt and Chad Normoyle) always say run the ball, which is what they are supposed to do,” Eagle says. “They thought we held an advantage. LO’s defensive line is very good, and they are well-coached in terms of play recognition. For instance, they see this formation and the back on this side, and that means this play. Our coaches said, ‘Let’s change it up,’ and we did. We did everything opposite, and it worked well for us.”

Coury saw it as more a matter of talent and the ability to make plays.

“(Anderson) is good,” he said. “We knew he was the guy we had to stop. And (Wideman) is really good, too. You have a double problem. You have to stop the pass, and you have to pressure the quarterback.

“They always had answers. We got behind so quick and had to play catchup, and the catchup game is hard. If we could have gotten (the deficit) to seven (points), it could have been a different game, because then they react different and we react different. We had our chances to get back in and put the pressure on them, but we could never get to that point. They made the plays and we didn’t.”

Primarily because West Linn controlled the ball so much, the Lakers had only one first down and 13 yards total offense in the first quarter. They finished with 20 first downs and 300 yards total offense and managed 30 points, but had only 106 yards rushing. Junior LaMarcus Bell, who came into the game with 1,630 yards and 26 touchdowns rushing, was kept under control. Bell finished with 87 yards and two TDs on 20 carries and caught five passes for 37 yards and another score.

“They had a great (defensive) plan and executed it well,” Coury said. “They had guys up in the box. They slanted, they moved guys. They did a bunch of stuff to stop the run. That was the game plan. We knew it coming in. We just couldn’t do anything about it. We couldn’t get (receivers) open enough. It wasn’t surprising. When you’re playing us, you’re going to try to stop (Bell). That’s what they did.”

Eagle deflects credit to his assistants, singling out defensive coordinator Anthony Newman, the former Oregon safety who played a dozen years in the NFL.

“Anthony has a wealth of experience,” Eagle says. “He is so good in front of young people. I have heard this said (by players) many times — ‘I’d run through a wall for that guy.’ You should see the guy in a pregame meeting with the defense. He is really good.”

Including the freshman and JV teams, Eagle has 17 assistant coaches — that’s no misprint. (The West Linn Booster Club must have one hell of a slush fund.) Eagle was a grad assistant under Rich Brooks during Newman’s time with the Ducks. The other ex-Ducks on the staff are Normoyle, Alex Molden (who played eight NFL seasons and coaches cornerbacks), Damon Griffin (wide receivers) and Taylor Stinson (tight ends).

“Most of those guys are buddies of Anthony,” Eagle says. “I call him ‘The mayor of West Linn.’ He put the band together. They have a lot of unique ideas that are out of the box, and they are good teachers. That combination is pretty deadly.”

Add Sai Poulivaati (Oregon State, defensive line) and Travis McDonald (Missouri, linebackers) and there are seven coaches with FBS playing experience.

“These guys are knowledgeable and very good at what they do,” Eagle says. “All of our coaches are good. We are always looking for expertise and character. Any of them who wanted to become a head coach could be one. Would I want my son to be coached by these guys? With every single one I would say yes.”

KOIN TV’s Brenna Greene interviews Coach Jon Eagle after West Linn’s championship performance

The current West Linn head man ain’t bad, either. I remember his father, John Eagle, when he was the well-respected coach at Fort Vancouver High in the 1980s. Jon played at Columbia River High and finished his college career at Linfield, a part-time starter on an 8-2 team in 1981 under the legendary Ad Rutschman. Eagle helped coach quarterbacks the following year when the Wildcats won their first NAIA Division II national championship.

“Sometimes you forget where all the things you use as a coach come from,” Eagle says. “A lot of the things we preach to kids today, I got from Ad.”

Eagle, now 65, served a season coaching quarterbacks under Bruce Barnum at Portland State, but most of his 40-year career has been spent coaching at the prep level. He won Washington state championships at Camas High in 2016 and ’19 and owns a career record as a high school head coach of 242-72. Eagle came to West Linn in 2022 and won a state title his first season. Now he has four of them on his resume.

“They are all special,” he said. “The journeys are all different.”

When I asked two West Linn players about their coach, both used the adjective “amazing.”

“My bond with him has grown stronger this year,” Gilroy said. “I am so happy to have had him as my coach. Couldn’t ask for anyone better.”

“Coach Eagle has played a huge role in our success,” says Josiah Molden, a sophomore cornerback and Alex Molden’s son. “He is so good at getting the little things done.”

West Linn and Lake Oswego are neighboring communities playing in the same league. There is bound to be some tension when the teams play. But there is also a mutual appreciation.

“I play with some of them dudes, including Liam Davis, 7-on-7 for E-Force in the summer,” Molden says. “All of them are like family. They’re my guys.”

“It’s a healthy rivalry,” Gilroy said. “We know a lot of guys on their team. They are a fierce opponent every time we play them. They took Game 1, but we took the one that mattered.”

“Much respect to Steve Coury and his staff,” Eagle said. “That team is very well-coached. The players are never out of position. They do a lot of things very well. I told him before the game that I am so impressed with what they do. It’s a good rivalry. I think it’s two well-coached teams with some talent on both sides. It was a heck of a game.”

In recent years, West Linn has had great success, not just in football but in many sports.    Why?

The West Linn flag flies after the Lions earned their second state crown in three years under Jon Eagle

“I can’t explain why,” Eagle said. “I do know that we have a lot of skilled athletes. When I have done a youth quarterback camp in other places, you might have one or two guys who want to play quarterback. I did one in West Linn and there were 14. Fourteen kids think they are good enough to play quarterback. That’s unusual. So yeah, there is a lot of talent.”

Too much for Lake Oswego in the championship battle.

“I told the kids, it’s a shame to lose the last one,” Coury said. “You have such a great year, and then the only guys who leave happy are on the one team. But it was a great ride. We never gave up. We kept it close. If we’d had one more stop it might have been different, but there is no shame getting beat by that team. That’s a damn good team, and well-coached.”

I stayed to watch a good portion of the 5A championship game, won 56-35 by No. 5 seed Wilsonville in a rematch of last year’s final, won by Mountain View 29-23. The No. 2 seeded Cougars came in 12-0 but were no match for the Wildcats or senior Mark Wiepert, who accounted for eight touchdowns — five rushing and three passing. It’s a record for any classification in the state’s history, made especially remarkable in that Wiepert was in his first season as Wilsonville’s quarterback.

The 6-1, 205-pound Wiepert can run like the wind and has a rocket arm. An outstanding baseball player, he has committed to Oregon State for that sport. But that may be just a backup plan. Wiepert wants to play college football, and he is being recruited by both Washington and Oregon for that sport. He was at Autzen Stadium for the Ducks’ 49-14 rout of the Huskies on Saturday. Stay tuned.

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